TV Forum

Okay guys, I am going in. Thanks for the explanation, Soler.



Deedee, I find the use of violence towards animals in any tv/movie production offensive and unneccesary. Leave children and animals out of the storylines and I am fine with it. Hey, I watched Giri/Haji and loved it and there was a profuse amount of blood spilled in that story. When something is well done, I can absorb it. Just not when the defenceless of this world are included.

Amen, Brit.

This looks good, on Amazon Prime. Don't know if anyone here watches Awkwafina is Nora in Queens - or Barry on HBO or Better Things on FX, all weird shows - but I hope you've seen Crazy Rich Asians with her. I find her to be a good comedian and actor.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/sep/21/the-farewell-review-lulu-wang-awkwafina


OH, and speaking of weird shows, if you have EPIX, Gabriel Byrne is back on teevee in War of the Worlds, with Elizabeth McGovern, a depressing very unhappy series so far. Only on episode two, and I missed episode one.

Good review, big SPOILER alert on it.

https://collider.com/war-of-the-worlds-review-epix/

@ deedee713
I have all episodes of this and I can point you in the right direction if you want.

Deedee, I DVR'd the first two episodes of War of the Worlds. I saw both Gabriel Byrne and Elizabeth McGovern in the promos and I am interested to see what is going on in this series. I'll give it the two episodes, if it doesn't grab me I will move on.

I am up to E6 of The Stranger. It took awhile for this series to grab me, I'd say after E4 is when my interest peaked. The story keeps twisting and turning and we still are no closer to knowing where Corrine is and I am starting to think we may never know!


So many secrets! They just keep coming. This is a great cast... we were speaking of Ballykissangel a bit ago, I have not seen Derlva Kirwan in anything since then, at least that I can remember. She looks terriffic as does Siobhan Finneran and Jennifer Saunders. Really solid performances from all three. I also remember Shaun Dooley from Broadchurch.


I am up to the part where we find out about the rat poison, and at this point we don't know why the detective would go so far as to kill Heidi, Johanna's friend. It has to have something to do with her daughter's activities (and the fact that she could have ID'd him).


Everyone is still lying to each other, of course lies go along with secrets. They could have called this series Secrets and Lies and it would have fit.


I have this feeling that the ending of this story is going to be a doozy.

The story keeps twisting and turning and we still are no closer to knowing where Corrine is and I am starting to think we may never know!

ooooooh .. you're know Brit .

I have this feeling that the ending of this story is going to be a doozy.

It will surprise ya . lol

I like Siobhan as a cop but thought she was especially good as O'Brien in Downton.

Finished The Stranger... yes, Soler we certainly do find out what happened to Corrine, without any doubt!






Spoilers.....................



I was surprised by the ending, I didn't believe she took the money, it was hard to figure out what was going on most of the time in this series, but that never rang true to me. I knew it was the neighbor and "good friend", Doug. Did I even think for a moment he killed her, no. Did not see that coming... can you imagine my face when he took us to the woods and he shows us where he buried her.


What gets me is that the Stranger wreaks havoc on so many people's lives, destroys them, and she walks away. Actually she escaped, can't understand how, but we are told no one is willing to press charges for the blackmail... so in the end, there are no consequences for her. Well, that is not true, she lost her friend/partner and that was all her fault, she should have listened to her when she told her she had a bad feeling and they needed to stop.

Speakjng about partners, could Wes, Johanna's partner have been any more useless the entire investigation until, of course, the ninth hour when he saves the day. We usually have detective sidekicks that show some level of competence working on the case. Not this guy, all he seemed to be capable of doing was cracking stupid jokes.


Johanna was really working the case alone for most of the series. That was off for me, she referred to him as "the infant" several times, seemingly acknowledged his limitations as he mostly acted the fool, but a detective of her caliber would not have somone so lacking by her side.


It makes me think of Vera, you don't find that with Joe and Aiden. They may not have her level of skill, but they are always right there with her, working hard on the case. Wes was more comic relief than anything else.

Now for the choice that Johanna made regarding Adam. There is a lot of grey area in life, everything can not always be seen through a black and white lens, at least from my perspective. Jules Maigret, the great fictional detective understood this, this is why I enjoy Simenon's stories so much. He was all about justice from the human perspective. You walk away from the story feeling justice was served with empathy for all concerned.


What good was to come from putting Adam on trial and in prison after all that had happened. Would it have made the situation right, corrected the wrong, made up for all that had happened? No, Doug killed his wife and would have killed him... given the state he was in, his response was understandable. Destroying his children's live's further (while the Stranger walks away scot free) would have been the greater injustice. I liked Johanna's answer. Now that, rang true to me.

Brit … my biggest criticism of the show was that there was too much going on , to try to follow closely made you're head spin. I keep thinking ( and hoping ) that Corrine was alive but one thing kept nagging at me. If she was alive and had free movement she would not put her boys thru that anguish so I settled on her being held against her will. Held that hope until that walk in the wood … and then it was kkkkkeep walking to get past the woods. lol When Doug stopped I knew then what happened to Corrine .…. Waited for him to say to Adam .. " You're standin' on her. " I was totally surprised at Johanna's actions when she caught up to the two and saw what Adam had done. Had no indication thru out the show that she was anything but a straight and true copper. I think she was totally at peace with her decision to cover up for Adam and as you say what good would come from turning Adam in , the boys would only have lost both parents . Now, to the stranger .. what a piece of work she was . She was playing a dangerous game with peoples lives and was devious at it with no hint of remorse for what she was doing to people. Did I get the impression at her last screen shot looking down at Adam and his son that she was not included in that little family but it was as if she was on the outside looking in. Loved Siobhan as O'Brien .. sooooooooooooooo devious. lol As I have said , hope there is more seasons of this show …. feel ' The Strangers ' story is not over yet.

Yes, that last shot of the Stranger looking down on the family, who survived all the upheaval and loss that she unleashed on them, and came out the other side a stronger unit, was a good way to end the series. If she had been embraced by the family after all she did... so many people lost their lives because of her actions, and for what, so she could play her secrets game of revenge and blackmail... I would have thrown my hands up with the series. Thank goodness she was left "on the outside looking in".



Soler, I know how much you loved Siobhan as O'Brien! And let's not forget Thomas, her bestie. You looked forward to their plots and plans each week. I don't know if you heard, but Julian Fellowes has a new period drama series "Belgravia" coming out on the Epix cable channel premiering on April 12th. Look and see if you have access to it... with Fellowes writing it, you may find yourself another O'Brien or Thomas character to enjoy.

Yes Brit .. thanks for the heads up on ' Belgravia ' will be lookin' for it. If it has an O'Brien character and not to forget about Thomas , as you say her bestie then it will be a good watch. BUT could do without the Bates / Anna misery . That long suffering spectacle got to the point where I hated to see either one of them come on screen.

Deedee, I have finished E3 of the War of the Worlds remake. I almost stopped watching after E2, talk about depressing, this is as depressing as you can get. The Hubs was watching with me a bit and he couldn't take anymore. My curiosity got the better of me and I decided to give it one more go. At this point, I am too engrossed in the story, so I am going to go on to E4. I would not recommend this series for anyone else though. Better to stay away as there is no joy to be found here at all.

Just as a reminder, Baptiste will be airing on PBS on April 12th at 10PM (the same night as Belgravia on Epic which airs at 9:00 PM). The series is six episodes long, so we have something to really savor.

Thanks for the heads-up on Baptiste, Brit! I've been waiting for World on Fire, it airs the beginning of April as well.
Also...I was wondering if any of you have seen 'The Woman in White' - After a haunting encounter with a woman all in white, drawing master Walter Hartright finds a startling resemblance between her and his new pupil, the beautiful Laura Fairlie.... and if so what did you think? It originally aired in the UK in 2018. I just noticed it on my PBS, but I can still get all 5 episodes between March 10-17th.

Appara, I vaguely remember that PBS aired The Woman in White a few years ago... I didn't watch it so I can not give an opinion.

Thanks for the response Brit, I have my recorder set for the episodes so if I really don't like it...delete, delete, delete! LOL

I agree, Brit. I found one part in episode one absolutely awful.

But I am hooked, and if the aim is to create a suffocatingly depressing color scheme and geography and storyline, they have succeeded.

Even at this, it is better than Homeland, which I must watch to the end, but is awful.

The Stranger.

Really? That was it? That was their effort at a convoluted storyline with some good acting performances? In summary, it was crap.

AND THAT MERITED KILLING AN ALPACA AND BEHEADING IT?

REALLY???????

In my opinion of course.

Kinda hopin' there will be a second season of this dee …… would like ta see more of ' O'Brien ' in this role.

I'd like to see Siobhan continue in any detective role... I wish they would give her a detective series of her own. Everything she has worked in, besides Downton, has been a one and done.




Yes Deedee, the whole Alpaca storyline was so unnecessary. There was no need to go there, absolutely none.



MHz has completely stopped their public broadcasting. They no longer air on any public network. I am sorry to see them go as they had a unique offering with international news, lifestyle and mystery programing.

True, Brit. I guess I went nuts at the ending. Normally, it would have been fine, but it wasn't worth the death of that poor animal. I didn't like the complexity or outcome of the storyline, but Siobhan and her partner were excellent, I'd like to see them again. It's good to see so many female detectives in UK shows, at any rate. And I always like to see Stephen Rea (Judy!!!).

That IS a shame about MHz. Are they strictly a pay channel now, or are they gone completely? It was obvious from the beginning that they didn't have a big coffer, what with their inability to improve their streaming capabilities. It's a shame when the big guys start to dominate.

They are strictly a monthly fee streaming channel now Deedee. I still remember when I first found the station - it was the MHz public broadcasting channel out of Philly.


Late one night, it was the 12:00 AM time slot I think, I find them airing the Swedish "Wallander" series, I had never seen anything like it... I was mesmerized. We were on the A&E board at the time and I wrote you all about it the next day. Of course, no one knew what I was talking about - heck, I didn't know what I was talking about, what did any of us know about international programing back then. This was a whole new genre for us.


I joined the MHz FB page shortly after that, there were only fifty of us at that time. We had some great times back then with that small group. There were about twenty of us that regularly interacted and we got to know each other well. When the admins (there was a small crew doing everything in those early years) had to go on location in Italy for Montalbano a few of us stepped in to write the synopses for upcoming shows/movies and kept the flow going while they were away. It was really a hands on group. I still keep in contact with two of the people I met at that time, they have become friends.


Originally, the thought was that DVD sales were going to fund the purchase of new programing, and that did work for a while, DVD sales were brisk. Overtime though, that wasn't enough and when streaming caught on, MHz went in that direction which was inevitable.


Athough, they kept their public presence with (free) programing on public stations that were available to them (even that kept shrinking over time). Through the years they came and went in my area. I was lucky to have gotten them back this last year. MHz opened a whole new world for me... their early programming... Wallander, Maigret, Montalbano and others are still among my all time favorites.

Brit, I remember the early days of a lot of television chat forums. Back when big business hadn't figured out that they were lucrative and shut down the small independents. That was when, as you say, people got to know each other and find kindred spirits - and nut jobs. I remember one guy on on forum said he was a legless black woman in a wheel barrow (no joke), when he was nothing more than a flaming troll.

I also remember the board for Homicide: Life on the Street and a spin off 'I Hate Jon Seda' when he joined and ruined the show. The peach scene, in case you're wondering. An entire board devoted to bashing Jon Seda, who is still around the networks, by the way. It was interesting mostly for the passion it demonstrated about a show.

I liked the story about stepping in for the moderators. Remember one board we were on, again long ago, where the moderators were constantly policing the board and eventually shut it down?

A&E and BRAVO and the PBS board were a magnet for me way back when, now this is the last of its kind.

Small mercies.

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How is everybody doin' in this very strange time . Can't believe it , just a week ago life was so normal . Now, who knows how long it's gonna take ta get back to normal ……. if we can ever get back there at all. ' Self isolation ' is not a normal way to live and how long will it last .. 2 weeks or 2 months or longer . Strange times indeed.

Hey, Soler! Hope everyone is well and hanging in. I am doing fine, the Brit clan will do whatever is neccesary to keep the virus from spreading. The Hubs has had to continue going to his place of work as his job is deemed essential, although he is not sure what will happen on Monday as of yet, with New Jersey going in to lockdown. It depends on the choices the State of New Jersey makes for various aspects of the government.


For me, I can do social distancing with one hand tied behind my back, the hubs though is feeling it. He is the more social of the two of us and loves his routine.


I know Deedee is in the thick of it in New York. I keep up with what is going on there and Thank God, they have a capable person running that ship. Not that my Governor is not on top of things the best that he can be, but New York's Governor has taken on a strong leadership role (in my opinion).


In some ways I think this experience will forever change us, Soler. Let us hope for the good.


I have been thinking of you all.

Wishing all the best through this very strange time. I heard someone say on a clip what struck me, that this feels like a Twilight Zone episode. I too don't mind social isolation, but oddly, when it's enforced, I object to it! Must be the problem with authority in me.

I too am impressed with the Governor's briefings and actions thus far. I hope he gets enough cooperation and reaction to do as he plans. Those on the beaches of Miami for spring break were astonishing. I'm in Eddie Foy land, Brit, but NYC is only 45 minutes away, a piece of cake for this 'thing'.

The daunting prospect is not only getting through this, but what the future holds. Will it come back, will we try to go back to 'normal', as soler says?

Stay well, everyone.

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Two days ago Vera Lynn had a birthday , she is 103. Besides her birthday , Vera has been having a bit of a resurgence . Known as the forces sweetheart in WWII for her heart warming songs when the world was in crisis … well her songs are being sung in the U.K. as the world is in crisis once again . Love these songs, ' We'll Meet Again ' , ' The White Cliffs of Dover ' , ' A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square ' it brings a focus to the past bad times that the world got thru. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHcunREYzNY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hqtaoz4QFX8

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Loved hearing the White Cliffs of Dover, Soler. Yes, it reminds us of what we have been through in the past and that we too will come through this. Thanks for posting it.

We haven't heard from Alastair in awhile. I am going to leave a message on the Doc Martin thread for him.

Thanks, Brit. I thought you guys were chatting away over there. Hope he's okay.

I hope we hear from him soon, Deedee.

Heading into the final days of March and looking forward to April. Not only for the new shows that are set to air on PBS, but also in the hopes that this social distancing will see a positive result!!
I kind of live at 'the end of the road' so the count is very low in my area. The bigger cities in Alberta I am sad to say are really starting to see a jump in numbers.
Stay safe and stay healthy my friends!!

You too, Appara! Some good shows coming up in April. Baptiste premiering April 12th on PBS.

How is everybody doing ?

Okay here, thanks sol er. How are you? How is everyone else?

Not too bad dee .. gettin' a little shack wacky but gettin' thru it.

Hanging in over here.

I wanted to tell you all that my local PBS station out of Philly is airing the original Inspector Morse TV series. An episode a week on Saturday nights. I don't know why they waited so long, they should have done this years ago. I missed the first season, I didn't realize it was on, but I caught it at the beginning of the second. The first few episodes felt a bit dated to me. I re-watched the entire series about six years ago and I didn't feel that way then, couldn't quite put my finger on why I was feeling that way this time. Then last night, it hit me. The quality of the production was much improved with this episode, this is midway in to the second season. They were probably unable to improve the master tapes of the episodes prior to this (or did not have them), as they were pretty grainy. This one was clear as a bell. Come to think of it, it may have been the same with the DVD set I have (purchased from the UK (Region 2) at an extremely affordable price).



Nice to have the crime solving logic of Morse back on the screen. I feel like I am stepping back in time to those early days of Morse and Masterpiece Mystery while I am watching. It is a welcome feeling in this difficult time.

What a treat for you Brit … wish we all could see .. then have a discussion like back in the ol' A&E board days. You've got Morse on Saturdays , like I got Midsomer.

I was also thinking that, Soler. I wish we all had access to the series so we could watch and discuss the episodes together each week. Something to look forward to.



I know Deedee you have not been able to revisit Morse since John Thaw's passing, I am thinking of you though and will put this out there... if there was ever a time for the calm and exceptional logic of Morse, this is it. Watching again I am reminded how complex the stories are - which is one of the strengths of the series - and how you become engrossed in the twists and turns. I have to admit, I don't remember most of the plots, so I am finding myself trying to work out the puzzles all over again. These are well crafted stories.


You know, I had forgotten the true personality of the Morse character over these last years watching the Endeavour series. Evan's Morse has no resemblance to Thaw's... they are completely different people. And, I am once again appreciating Lewis' lovely character and what a good complement he is to Morse's brusque, brilliant mind.



Oh, I saw a good clear shot of Colin Dexter in last night's episode!

You've got Morse on Saturdays , like I got Midsomer.


Over and over and over and over and over! With the original guy you all like, who is as nails on a blackboard to me.


I even tried the new show with the old John Cleese - awful.


Vera is off suddenly, and boy do I miss her.


You evoke good memories, Brit. There was no other show like Morse for me, save for Brett's Sherlock Holmes. It was a gut punch to me when both actors died, I doubt I would ever say that for a current show.

even tried the new show with the old John Cleese - awful.

Yeah dee … pretty bad isn't it .. ' Hold The Sunset ' … Cleese's best was ' Faulty Towers ' his wife in that show was played by Prunella Scales , she was in the Midsomer I watched Saturday, she is 88 now and suffers from dementia.

Hmmmm, post disappeared. Okey dokey then.

I remarked that I really liked FT, especially Manuel (Que?), as played so well by the late Andrew Sachs. Cleese was best at mania, a scene comes to mind when guests were trying to get drinks, an orange squash comes to mind.

And, no one could do withering better than Prunella. The garden gnome storyline is memorable.

Sorry to hear that about Prunella.